So after who knows how many listens, I decided to start taking notes and briefly rate individual tracks. My short notes essentially turned in to a review lol. Present thoughts (though these could still change).
- Ultralight Beam - Excellent, almost MBDTF esque. It's euphoric, warm but melancholy, making for a good opener. Chance's bar is solid, and the choir vocals add a real richness to it. The whole thing sounds layered. Unfortunately there is some minor clipping.
9/10
- Father Stretch My Hands Pt.1 - Blends in coherently, keeping up the positive sonic energy and vibe, and retaining some of that background choir like euphoria and soulfulness. Solid overall beat, with a playful but rather random verse. It's over a bit quick.
8/10
- Pt. 2 - Also blends in nicely. Another fantastic beat, this time the bars and music start getting dark and moody. Background instrumentals start introducing more haunting elements. The two mixes in samples work great, though the second to last (Imogen?) is introduced way too abruptly. Overall the track is over far too quickly and could have done with one more loop and verse. Still, I really like it.
8.5/10
- Famous - Ups the ante on the darker atmospheric vibe. Has a halloween esque ethereal sound that is addictive, and slips between Rihanna's smooth chorus vocals well. The bass line is banging, and the cut away to the samples fit really well, all tweaked and worked uniquely to compliment the overall track successfully. Finishes off nicely. Still not too keen on the made Taylor Swift famous line, but overall an excellent track.
9/10
- Feedback - Decent verses on this one, and a good quantity of them too. Has a really unique and strange background beat and instrumental. Almost emotes a slight uneasiness about it, but in a slightly more easy listening and funky way than some of the tracks on Yeezus for example. Enjoyable.
7.5/10
- Low lights - Really random. Not sure it necessarily fits in very well, but it's an interesting listen. Probably not really necessary in the grand scheme, but it does at least offer a slight pacing differentiator.
5/10
- Highlights - Slots in a bit unusually, and would have probably worked better without Low Lights interrupting the flow. But here the beat and sound is more vibrant and fun, maintaining a smoothness about it that makes it easy to groove to. Almost feels slightly soulful. The verses are equally playful, with Kanye just having a bit of fun. Sonically, there's also some nice switch ups throughout.
8/10
- Freestyle 4 - This track brings us very quickly back to a more dark and aggressive sound. Very atmospheric and almost villainous. Here Kanye seems detached, but the intro through to the main beat and drop is luscious, rich and additive. Only problem is it's over way too quickly, though I love the way it ends with those weird alarm synth type sounds (which also quietly creeps in midway through the song for added continuity). Just wish the main beat looped through at least one more time, with another verse in between. Love this one, but it's just over too quickly.
9.5/10
- I Love Kanye - Fun, short little lighthearted verse. After the detached feel from the last track, this one just grounds things again.
7.5/10
- Waves - Another very lush sound, with a smooth and celestial feel, but this time without the darkness of previous tracks. Ye's verse seems a bit random and loose, but it's a small element of the track, which otherwise seems to be reliant on Chris Browns vocals. This one also seems more Pop RnB radio like than other tracks, so I can see why Ye might have wanted to originally cut it. But it's a good track addition overall with a nice flow.
8/10
- FML - I absolutely love this track. It's musically rich, powerful and has a presence to it that few of the other tracks possess. The chorus from the Weeknd works fantastic, and Ye's verse really feels like he's pouring his inner demon's out there, even if subtly and using few words. The drop is excellent, and the way it's introduced with the drums really well done. The background sample is twisted and uncomfortable, lifted by the brilliant bass line, and contextually it all fits together perfectly. Even the abrupt end works.
10/10
- Real Friends - Great track to follow on to, as it is essentially Ye continuing to pour more of his personal, deeper sentiments and introspections out there, this time family orientated. The verses are strong, the beat super atmospheric, but also simple and not over complicated. It's not as sample heavy as the other tracks, and given the lyrical relevancy on offer, I think it does the track justice. Ty Dolla's chorus works well, and that operatic hum at the end just finishes it off beautifully. Only negatives to this track is that I can hear very slight bass distortion and crackle.
10/10
- Wolves - Sonically and contextually, this track also follows on really well. It's the atmospheric flavour of Real Friends, but with added layers of musical complexity and an even murkier texture. Ye's verse works well, even though it's very limited in content, but I love the way at one point his voice almost cracks, as well as the closing lines involving his children, which are almost poetic in nature. The switch to Frank Ocean is excellent, especially with that weird echoey intro, followed by the beautiful pianos. Even though Frank's voice sounds a bit rough and poorly recorded, I think it really adds to the mood of the track. And though I really really miss Sia and Vic's parts, I can't deny this is still an amazing track. If Ye just brings the other two back in, making it some long, ultra extended piece, it'll be even more amazing. Unfortunately like with Real friends, there is also some slight bass distortion with this track.
9.5/10
- Silver Surfer Intermission - A bit of a random interjection, but after the addictive but slightly depressing tone of the last few tracks, it does sort of work. You also get a nice bit of an insight in to the situation regarding the previous potential album title.
5/10
- 30 hours - Super addictive and sonically detailed head bopper. Some nice little instrumental intricacies and samples throughout that just lift it. I like his verses, though they're again over quite quickly. I don't mind his ad-lib at the end, and even like the fact that his voice cracks again. Gives you this feeling that he's just been in there working away tirelessly throughout the early hours of the morning, which fits the theme of the track. The mumbling and freestyle in this section are bad, but his side rambling and the phone call at the end interesting. Just gives you a good insight in to his working environment and mind frame, whilst giving you a great beat to bop along to.
8.5/10
- No More Parties in L.A. - I think this works well as a follow up and is overall an enjoyable, funky track. Whilst the beat is a bit repetitious and simplistic, despite the numerous samples used throughout, I think it still works because here the focus is clearly the solid verses delivered by both Ye and Kendrick. They take centre stage and the rest is just dressing, and it's great to hear, especially throughout what has otherwise been a lyrically de-emphasised album.
7.5/10
- Facts - Whilst some of the lines are still a bit questionable, the overall beat, mixing and production here are improved enough that it's a better listen. I also like that it's slotted in here in the album, because where we've seen darker and/or more uneasy sides of Ye throughout, it's sort of comforting to see him penultimately close with something so braggadocios and full of bombast. Whilst Kanye is clearly troubled in certain parts of his life, this is a loud celebration of some of the things accomplished, and even though some of it is arrogant, misdirected or somewhat misplaced, he's sort of earned it.
6.5/10
- Fade - A good way to end. An uplifting, addictive, but fairly simple headbanger that gets you moving and immediately re-energised. The electronic elements sound pretty weird and wonderful, and the cut away is great, allowing for that nice build up before the main catchy beat is satisfyingly re-introduced. It ends strangely abruptly, but that sort of makes you want to jump right back in.
8.5/10
Overall.
Firstly, the negatives. I am a little disappointed that there's not as much Kanye rapping on this album, especially when outside of tracks like 30 Hours, Real Friends, Facts and No More parties in LA (all previously released), he doesn't actually drop a whole lot of verses throughout, at least not to the same degree as in older albums anyway. Add to that, a lot of what he does is often elongated with singing, format or repetition, or not particularly heavy in lyrical content or quality. Perhaps just one or two more verse and rap heavy tracks would have topped it off perfectly. That or simply extending the length of tracks like Part 2 or Freestyle 4.
The other thing is that the verse heavy tracks he does offer, tend to be less dynamic in terms of production, especially compared to other tracks on the album which constantly mix things up sonically.
I also found that the album is perhaps not as thematically coherent as his previous work, but I don't mind this as much because I appreciate the variety and breadth of musicality on offer. This album is clearly supposed to be quite playful and broad, not too dissimilar to his take on the different Pablo's indirectly referenced within, and in that regard it's fitting that it's not too strictly tied down to a specific theme. It does however sort of have a pseudo house sound, which tends to veer towards bass heavy, moodier, atmospheric, oft electronic, sample rich medley's.
The only other main negative is with some of the mixing. There's clipping here and there that I don't think really adds anything besides irritation, e.g. the choir peaks in Ultralight Beam, or the sub bass in Real Friends and Wolves, which can result in some subtle distortion and crackle.
Having said all the above, overall this is still an incredible album that is highly consistent in terms of competency of production. It offers an addictive, sometimes stunning array of diverse, quality music that you can essentially leave on repeat in it's entirety, and still continuously enjoy. This is a celebration of collaborative efforts, but at the same time often still personal and introspective to Kanye. This balance in approach is refreshing coming off of the back of Yeezus, which was almost relentless in it's hard hitting and gritty nature. Comparatively I find The Life of Pablo is a much lusher and easier to digest sonic experience, that might not be as daring, but is in my opinion more enjoyable and broader in appeal. I'm not going to rank it with Ye's other albums till I've had more time with it, but my current overall score
..
8.5 to 9/10
